WC 2003 - Ganguly negates having handed Australia the edge

Mumbai: Indian cricket captain Saurav Ganguly on Sunday said he was hopeful of winning the on-going World Cup in South Africa.

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In a telephonic talk with former Indian off spinner Nikhil Chopra, Ganguly said the team was eager to win the cup and keep up the faith of millions of his countrymen. On how is the team was preparing to face Kenya after its performance against Australia in a day and night game, he said, "We are only going to try and keep up our winning streak... nothing else matters."

When Chopra asked whether any precautions have been taken this time as the team had lost twice earlier against Kenya, Ganguly said, "We are going to put our best foot forward and let the match results speak for itself." Asked whether his statement that India would prefer Sri Lanka to Australia in the final would not give a psychological advantage to the Aussies in case they make it to the title clash, Ganguly said, "No.

We don't believe so."Ganguly was to answer queries from reporters in a videoconference organised by Amby Valley Sahara Lake city at Lonavala, near here. However, the videoconference could not take place due to technical snag and the Indian team captain talked to Chopra over phone.Runners from Indian navy and some reputed athletes including Asha Agarwal and Sunita Godara earlier took part in the good luck run to wish the Indian team all the best to cross the last two hurdles and win the Cup. Film stars Sunil Shetty, Raveena Tandon and Raj Babbar also attended the function and wrote their good wishes on a banner. PTI